VIDEO: Amazing chip-in on 18th hole leads to playoff round for Stroud

Jared Ainswort, Beaumont Enterprise

By Jared Ainsworth

Updated 8:14 am, Monday, June 24, 2013

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud hits a shot from the bunker on the 15th hole during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud hits a shot from the bunker on...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff against Ken Duke during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff against Ken Duke during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff against Ken Duke during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a birdie on the 18th hole to force a playoff against Ken Duke during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud celebrates after chipping in a...

Ken Duke celebrates after sinking a birdie putt on the second playoff hole at the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Duke won a playoff against Chris Stroud with the birdie. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
Photo: Fred Beckham, FRE

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's Championship trophy after winning in a second playoff against Chris Stroud during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's Championship trophy after winning in a second playoff against Chris Stroud during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's Championship trophy after winning in a second playoff against Chris Stroud during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's Championship trophy after winning in a second playoff against Chris Stroud during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's Championship trophy after winning in a second playoff against Chris Stroud during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke and Chris Stroud walk onto the 18th green in the second playoff on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's Championship trophy after winning in a second playoff against Chris Stroud during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's Championship trophy after winning in a second playoff against Chris Stroud during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Ken Duke holds up the Traveler's...

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud tees off on the 9th hole during the final round of the 2013 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 23, 2012 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Photo: Jared Wickerham, Staff

CROMWELL, CT- JUNE 23: Chris Stroud tees off on the 9th hole during...

Chris Stroud watches his drive on the second hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
Photo: Fred Beckham, FRE

Perhaps all doubt, no matter how small, can disappear from Chris Stroud's mind.

Stroud finished one shot short of winning his first PGA tournament Sunday when Ken Duke won in a playoff on the 18th hole at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. Stroud, a Port Neches-Groves and Lamar University graduate, desires what was almost his. Duke won by making a birdie from three feet away on his third shot.

The 33-year-old Stroud had never been closer to a PGA victory.

"He's been trying to prove to himself for a long time that he can win at that level, and I think this will prove to him that he's got what it takes," Stroud's father, Jimmy, said by phone. "He's won everything since he was a little kid, so it's been kind of a tough go on the PGA Tour that he hasn't won already. But when you consider that he's playing against the best people, not just in the United States but in the world, we're always proud of him. I just had a feeling he would win."

Stroud's previous best finish this year was tying for sixth at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. He's had 14 top-10 finishes since joining the tour in 2004, but he eyes that top finish.

He begins play at the AT&T National in Maryland on Thursday.

Check out Stroud's birdie on No. 18 in the video below. The joy in his reaction is priceless.